Nameless Re-Write
by MemoriesOfTheFlame
Summary: I don't remember my name. Or my past. I have amnesia. A boy claims he knows me, and that I'm a country. And he also says that all the other countries have amnesia too. The boy claims to be one too, except has his memories. Should I listen to him? He does seem familiar. But that can't be true can it? Couplings: PruCan Sufin DenNor GerIta Spamano And a couple others. T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1 Memories

**Note from Beta-Reader, 'XStrawberryDuckFeathersX' who edited spelling and grammar: any grammatical errors or spelling errors in this piece are my fault and not the fault of MemoriesOfTheFlame. Should you be angry about any mistakes made, please direct your comments at me and not her. Thanks! Enjoy her story!**

* * *

_Chapter 1-Memories._

"What is a memory?" I asked myself for the umpteenth time. "Why are they so important?" And, most importantly…

_Why don't people realise just how important they are?_

'Normal' people go about their daily lives not even giving a second thought to the questions I constantly find myself pondering about. Why is it that we forget things? Why do people remember? I couldn't come up with an answer for those questions. Sadly, not getting the answers to the puzzles I strived to solve only made me wonder even more.

Do memories affect the person to whom they belong? Are memories what define who you are? Are they what shape a human being?

I know I won't be able to find the answers to my questions anytime soon. The one that worries me the most is this:

If you lose your memories, _are you still who you used to be?_

Why do I even think about this? It won't help me in any way. After all, asking questions doesn't solve problems. It just creates more of them. Pondering won't fix what has already been broken. It's useless asking myself these things; it just wastes time. But, no matter what I do, I always get lost in my thoughts, thinking about memories and their importance in life. It's an endless loop of thought. I find myself thinking like that daily.

Why can I not just get on with life, you ask?

It's probably because of what happened. I'm scared. Scared that I'm no longer who I used to be. Worried that I'll never remember my past. Then, these worries make me angry that I feel so sorry for myself sometimes.

If you haven't guessed it by now, then I may as well tell you.

I have lost my memories. They're gone. Erased. Both the good and the bad are buried deep in the unreachable corners of my mind. No matter how hard I try, I can never remember anything of any importance. Not even a name. Well, actually…I do remember one. I don't know who it belongs to, but I know for a fact that it isn't mine. I never dwelled on it. I need to find out more about myself before I can be concerned about others. When I think back, I can't remember anything. The only thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed.


	2. Chapter 2 Diagnosis

I was extremely confused. I had no idea where I was, or how I'd got there. I was in a white room, tucked up in a cosy bed. The room was empty, bar a small TV and a machine I was hooked up to that showed my heartbeat. The doctor walked in not even a minute later.

He explained to me why I was here. I was in a car accident, apparently, but I wasn't so sure. He also told me that I had sustained a fractured wrist, a few bruised ribs and a concussion. Apparently, there were no fractures in my skull, but the blow to my head was enough to give me amnesia. Apparently there was alcohol in my bloodstream-lots of it. He thought that it was the main cause of my accident. I found that pretty damn obvious, to be honest.

"Will I ever get my memory back?"

"Eventually, they will return to you. But give it time. Just don't go drinking and driving again."

I decided not to dwell on the subject. I was pissed off at him for not giving a damn about me! I'm a patient! He's supposed to care about me; that's his job. The only bit of concern he showed was telling me not to drink whilst driving. _Of course_ I wouldn't do that after what had happened. He was talking to me as if I was a huge idiot or something-which I'm not. It's a shame people can be so unprofessional sometimes.

After he walked out of the room, I gazed out of the window and watched over the bustling city. It was covered in light snow, like a cake dusted with icing sugar. People rushed to and fro, from one store to another. I bet none of them were even thinking about the questions that were constantly plaguing my thoughts. It wasn't like they had to, anyway. They were fortunate enough to have the ability to remember. They took their memory for granted.

I just wanted to remember something. I didn't care if only my bad memories returned to me. I really wanted to remember something…anything. Eventually, I gave up looking too much into it and snuggled my head into the pillow in an attempt to get some rest. Maybe my dreams will help me recall a little something.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3- Job-seeking_

After three weeks, I was finally discharged from the hospital- a rather monotonous three weeks, may I add? It was three weeks of nothing but lying there, sleeping, eating, thinking of more questions to add to my growing list, failing Sudoku puzzles and also failing to solve a Rubik's cube. Being bedridden was absolutely terrible. Being discharged from hospital felt like the end of a prison sentence.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I didn't even know my own name. I had no degrees, no diplomas, and no references. All I had was twenty dollars that the nurses gave me out of pity. How on Earth am I supposed to get a job? Where the hell will I stay? I don't know any friends that I could stay with, because I couldn't remember any of them! Damn that car accident. I wouldn't have gotten into it if I wasn't drunk. A life without alcohol seemed extremely difficult; saying you'll give up and actually giving up are two different things.

I slumped onto a nearby park bench and pondered for a while. I could have just made up an alias and had a fresh start, but even then, the only job I would have been able to get was one at a low-class burger joint, and that wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I let out a sigh. I knew just how hard it would be to get back on my feet. I heaved myself from the bench. I didn't want to get too comfortable; I had to get out there and get my life back. The sooner I start, the sooner I'll get what I want.

I took a stroll through the busy streets. I looked into the window of every store I passed by, desperate to find a 'jobs available' sign. My spirits dropped with every building I walked past. It seemed as if no one was hiring anyone. I stopped before I began thinking more negative thoughts again. I would find a job. The city was a big place; there had to be a job available _somewhere._

* * *

I ended up walking for hours, but still no luck. I looked up to see that it was already dark; I hadn't even noticed. I briefly wondered how long it had been since the sun had set. Then, as if to indicate how long I had been out, my stomach growled. It was only then that I noticed the smell wafting through the air. It smelt like burgers. It seemed as if it was coming from one of the restaurants nearby. Fast food was a little low-class for my tastes, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I only had 20 dollars and, as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers and, in this case, I'm the beggar. I followed my nose and headed toward the restaurant in which the smell was coming from. I was right! It was a fast food place. I walked through the door, not noticing the sign in the window. I made my way to the front counter and realized how empty the place was. There weren't any customers. I found that strange. There was no-one to serve me, either.

"Is anyone here?" I yelled.

I heard a bang come from a nearby kitchen.

"I'll be there in a moment!" a voice called.

In less than a moment, a man appeared behind the counter. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone. It's been a slow day."

"No kidding," I replied.

"Yeah…so, what'll it be for you, sir?" the man said, rubbing the back of his head.

I ordered something random from the menu, because I had a lot more important things on my mind than my choice of food. I saw the cashier guy go into the kitchen to prepare my meal. Wasn't there someone else to work in the kitchen? And, when I thought about it, no-one was working at the drive-thru either! It was only that one guy. A light bulb lit up above my head.

"Hey!" I called, loud enough for the cook to hear me. "Isn't anyone else working here?"

"No!" he called back from the kitchen. "Didn't you see the 'help needed' sign in the window?"

"Isn't it supposed to be 'help wanted?"

"Either way, this place needs more workers or it'll be forced to close down. 'Needed' is more dire than 'Wanted'. I mean, we'll hire just about anyone. Why do you ask?"

He walked out of the kitchen with my order on a tray. He handed me my food, and I saw a glimmer in his blue eyes that wasn't there before. Hope, perhaps?


	4. Chapter 4 Hamburgers!

_Chapter 4-Steve_

"I'm looking for work, you see."

As I said that, a grin appeared on his face. His eyes lit up even brighter than they were before.

"So, you're thinking about working here?"

I could tell by his voice that he was trying hard not to rejoice. Just how desperate was he? Then again, he did say this place might close down if they didn't get any more workers.

"Great! You start tomorrow!"

"What about an application?" I asked.

"Who cares about that? You're the first applicant in weeks!"

He doesn't care much about going by the book, does he? But, I would have probably felt the same if I was in his position.

"How much for the food?" I asked, looking down at my meal.

"It's on the house!" he cheered.

"Really? Thanks…um…"

"Steve."

Steve held out his hand. Oh, crud. Was this the part where I was supposed to shake his hand and tell him my name? I didn't even know my name. How was I supposed to tell him?

I decided to wing it. I shook his hand and said the first name that came to mind.

"Scott. Nice to meet you."

"You don't look like a Scott," Steve said, as he let go of my hand.

"I've been told that a lot."

I managed to get myself a job! Sure, it was at a low-class burger joint, but I know for a fact that there was no way I could do any better. That's one of my problems taken care of. Now, there was only the matter of where I was going to stay.

I sat down at one of the many empty tables with my food. Since Steve had nothing better to do, he sat down in the seat across from mine and began to talk my ear off. He was such an annoying chatterbox! He couldn't even stop talking for a mere second. At one point, I wondered how he was able to breathe.

There was something about his endless ranting that seemed familiar. At first, he talked about work, explaining how things went at the 'restaurant'. Then, he went off-topic and talked about random stuff. I tried to listen, but he spoke so fast that it was hard to understand. At one point, I totally gave up trying to listen to what Steve was saying. It was practically indecipherable. I picked up a few things here and there. Apparently, he used to have a wife, but was now currently single. He had his eyes on a girl who didn't seem to realize that he existed. He had a dog named Sammy, who refused to play 'Fetch'. But that was all I could pick out from his words.

He immediately paused, as if he were about to say more. But, before he could, I cut him off.

"Can I stay at your place?"

It was impossible to get an apartment in a couple of hours. I had to ask. I was NOT going to stoop as low as to staying in one of those homeless shelters.

"Woah, dude! We just met!" Steve exclaimed with his hands up in objection. "I'm thankful that you're going to work here, but I don't like you in that way! As I said, I like someone else!"

Did he _actually_ think that I had feelings for him?

"That wasn't how I meant it at all! I just need a place to stay for a little while. My girlfriend broke up with me and won't let me into our house!"

My lies were perfect; he'd never realize that the words that came out of my mouth were so far from the truth. I made it believable almost effortlessly.

"Break-ups are hard. You can stay at my place, but don't try anything, okay?"

I laughed at his joke. "Don't flatter yourself!"

Steve began to laugh, too. This was great; I had killed two birds with one stone. I got a job and a place to stay, all in the space of a day! Talk about lucky.


	5. Chapter 5 Conversations

_Chapter 5-Matthew_

Steve allowed me to stay at his place for the next two or three weeks, before I got an apartment. A lot happened in that time. I got to meet the girl that Steve was head-over-heels in love with. Steve told me a couple of times to keep my hands off of her. I admit that she was pretty, but she wasn't my type, so he had nothing to worry about. We managed to teach his dog how to fetch…sort of. No matter what we did, though, the mutt wouldn't bring back what we threw!

Luckily, the burger place I worked at started to get more applicants. A guy named Cameron got a job the day after I did. A week later, a girl named Martha applied. Eventually, most of the positions were filled. It definitely made work a lot easier. It might have been empty the day I got hired, but since then, it was anything _but_ empty. The place was always crawling with customers. We were lucky if the place was empty for three minutes. Who knew so many people liked fast food?

Eventually, I moved out of Steve's house and into a one-bedroom apartment. It was tiny, and the neighbors were was bad as neighbors get. But it was the only place I could get with a landlord that wasn't picky about his tenants. Everywhere else asked me for a credit score and other things. On my first day, a guy tried to start a fight with me in the elevator because I was standing too close to him. I guess two meters isn't as far as it used to be.

Life started getting more interesting about four or five days after I moved in. I got up in the morning like I usually did-almost breaking my alarm clock looking for the button to shut it up. I swear, those things are mankind's worst invention sometimes. I guess it was only thanks to them that I made it to work on time, though. I ambled over to my closet and put on my uniform. I rubbed by eyes. I was still exhausted and half-asleep. I had to open up the restaurant. Luckily, for me, it was never crowded in the early mornings. Who would wake up at 5 a.m. to go to a fast-food restaurant? The pancakes were a wonderful breakfast, but I don't think they were good enough to get up so early for.

I glanced at the dreaded alarm clock. It was fifteen minutes before my shift started! How did so much time fly by so quickly? Maybe it was because I took so long to get out of bed. I ran into the hallway of the building and locked my door in three seconds flat, fast enough to possibly break a record! I dashed down the stairs. I was in so much of a rush that it didn't occur to me to take my bicycle. I ran out of the door as fast as my legs would carry me. I couldn't remember the last time I ran so much! Then again, I couldn't remember much at all.

By the time I made it to work, I was out of breath. I walked in the front door and breathed in large huffs, my lungs burning. It felt as if someone had lit a match and threw it on them.

I flipped the 'Closed' sign to 'Open'. Then, it occurred to me that it would not have mattered if I was late; there would have been no-one there but me. Nobody would have noticed. So, I did all of that running for nothing?

"This is why I hate mornings," I mumbled.

I went into the kitchen to prepare food for when the customers arrived. Since it would be a few hours until the customers would start pouring in, I made myself some breakfast- pancakes with maple syrup. I spent a good two hours killing time watching the TV by the counter, watching the news that spoke of the missing countries. When the door opened, I quickly walked to my post and pretended that I wasn't slacking off. I learned that if you didn't look like a slacker, people would tip you more often.

A customer made his way to the counter. He looked about eighteen and wore a green hoody. There was something familiar about him. Did I know him from somewhere? He looked up at the menu on the wall and I saw unmistakable violet eyes behind a pair of glasses. Then, without hesitation, a word escaped my lips, but not just any old word. A name. The only name I could remember after the crash.

"_Matthew._"


	6. Chapter 6 Gilbird

_Chapter 6- Gilbert?_

His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw my face. He said something, with a shocked look upon his face. I had to strain my ears to hear it; although he was trying his best to be loud, it had left his lips as a small whisper.

"Gilbert?"

The tips of his lips rose, forming the biggest smile I'd ever seen. "So, this is where you've been? And I was worried you'd died or something! Do you know where any of the others are?"

So, I did know him. It seemed that he was the one that the name I remembered belonged to. The only problem is…I still didn't really know who he was. Why couldn't I have met him after I remembered who he was? It would have been so much easier to not to have had to explain that. I have no clue who the heck he is; all I know is that he is 'Matthew'.

"Nope, I'm still alive. But I was in the hospital for a little while. So ,who are you?"

Happiness and relief mingled in his eyes, but soon became despair and disappointment. Matthew's head lowered and he gazed into the floor. His whole demeanor had changed when I asked who he was. But why?

"Are you messing with me, Prussia? You know who I am," Matthew said quietly.

Couldn't he speak louder? And didn't he say my name was Gilbert a minute ago? Maybe Prussia was my surname, but Gilbert Prussia sounds terribly odd. Maybe Prussia was my nickname?

"No, I don't know you. Sorry."

I would have added I would have remembered someone like him, but that was a lie. Matthew looked hurt by what I had said. There was no trace of his previous smile left on his face.

"You're lying," Matthew said. "You do know my name."

"I only know that one name. I don't exactly know you who you are."

"What do you mean by that?" Matthew asked.

"I have amnesia. I woke up in the hospital, and couldn't remember a thing. The doctors told me I was drunk at the time and got in a car crash."

"Are you okay?" Matthew asked.

For some reason, I noticed something about him. He looked somewhat…Canadian.

"I knew something must've been wrong with you when you never turned up at the World Summit! Actually, wait-nobody was at the World Summit. But I never thought that would have happened! Do you-"

"Slow down, my quiet friend. What do you mean, 'World Summit'? You have to remember than I don't remember you, or anything you're talking about, for that matter."

The Canadian-looking man blushed. "Sorry, I forgot! It's a long story, though…you don't mind listening to it, do you?"


	7. Chapter 7 Research

_Chapter 7- I am Prussia?_

"My name is Matthew Williams, but I also go by another name. You see, you and I are the personifications of countries. I'm Canada. You're Prussia."

Wow. Is he serious? People can't be countries. That's _ridiculous_. Sounds like something from an anime, not from real life. Prussia? That doesn't even exist anymore. It was unthinkable. Countries are countries, not people! I wasn't going to listen to this. It was completely crazy.

"Okay…that's a very odd assumption. What makes you think you are a country, Mr. 'Canada'?"

"I'm serious! I _am_ a country!" Canada yelled, although it wasn't very angry; it sounded more desperate than angry.

Judging by the volume and tone of his voice, it sounded as if he wasn't used to making conversation. People probably avoided him because of his odd delusions of being Canada.

"Yeah. And I own tons of baby chicks!" I chuckled. "Sorry, but I don't believe for a second that you're Canada."

"But you _do_ own a bunch of baby chicks."

I got up from my seat and left. I didn't want to listen to his ramblings any longer.

"You can't just leave! You're working!"

Darn it. He was right. I slumped behind the counter.

I was disappointed; I was waiting for a breakthrough, an interesting new memory. I was really looking forward to learning about my identity before the crash, and Matthew was my only way of retrieving those memories. That was why I sounded so vicious towards him; I was desperate for clues to my past.

I suppose Matthew can believe whatever he wants. The trouble was that I wanted the truth, and what he was telling me sounded _nothing_ like the truth. Then again, if what he said was true, it'd be pretty awesome. It'd definitely make life more interesting, but I have other things to think about. I can't be daydreaming about that.

I turned to hear Matthew's quiet voice. "Can you speak up?" I asked.

"Can I at least get some pancakes and maple syrup?"

I heard a sound. I was unsure of what it was, but I suspected that it was the quiet man sat at the table. "Can you speak up?"

"Can I at least get some pancakes and maple syrup?"

"Sure."

I made my way into the kitchen to prepare his order. Instead of re-heating the ready-made ones, I decided to whip up a fresh batch, just for him. I didn't like the thought of Matthew eating something that had been sitting out for a while. After I had finished making the pancakes, I finished it off with a generous coating of delicious maple syrup. I took it back to the front counter.

"That'll be three dollars and twenty-eight cents, please."

Matthew nodded glumly, and handed me the money. He mumbled something that was too quiet to be clearly heard, and headed out of the restaurant with his food.

The rest of my shift was uneventful. A lot of customers came in after Matthew had left, but they had nothing interesting or exciting to say. It got crowded in there after a while. I didn't have any free time, since I had my hands full dealing with the incoming customers. I may have managed to take one or two short breaks, but they were only for a minute or less. As the hours dragged on, more co-workers came in to give me some assistance. After that, it wasn't so bad.

My shift had ended at six p.m. I was eager to leave. I was still jittery after what had happened earlier on in the day. _I had met someone from my past!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8-Gilbird_

Talk about a breakthrough! Why did I dismiss him like that? It was a good thing that I met him. I could have learned more about myself! Sure, his ideas were rather odd, but it was a start. What the heck made me do something so stupid? How was I supposed to find him again? The city was a very large place. I'd have to be really lucky to run into Matthew a second time in one day. My heart started to beat faster. What if that was the only chance I would ever have?

_Ba-bump…ba-bump…_

I've blew it.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

I quickly looked around. Where had that sound come from? Was it a bird?

"Chirp! Chirp!"

My eyes settled on the store window next to me. In the window of the store was the most amazing animal I had ever seen. It was a baby chick, covered in wondrous yellow fluff!

"What an awesome bird!" I said to myself, in awe.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

I moved closer to the window. "You talk a lot, don't ya?"

"Chirp!"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

The little chick chirped back to me, as if it agreed. I entered the pet store and took a closer look at the little bird.

"An awesome bird like you needs an awesome name. How about…Gilbird? How does that sound?"

The word slipped off my tongue subconsciously. _Gilbird_. I had never planned on saying that at all. I had never heard a name like that before. I wonder where I got that idea from? Who cares. Either way, it's awesome!

"So, do you like that name, Gilbird?"

"Chirp!"

"Then Gilbird it is!"

Only then did I see the irony. I called Matthew crazy, when I was the one _talking to a bird_.

"Hey!"

I turned around to see a blond man with a scornful look on his face. If looks could kill, I would've probably been killed-twice! I could almost see the fire blazing in his eyes. He held his broom as if it were a weapon.

"What do you want?"

I didn't like where I thought this was heading. He looked like he was about to strike at any moment, and the cold glare didn't make him seem any less intimidating.

"You're scaring away all of my customers! Leave, or I'll make you leave!"

So, that was how he wanted to usher me out of his shop-by threatening me. But, where those threats empty? Or was he serious?

"What if I don't?" I challenged.

I saw a flash of hesitation in his eyes, but it soon turned back into anger again a millisecond later. He raised his broom as if he were about to strike my head with it.

"What if I told you that I was a paying customer?"

The blond man raised an eyebrow in confusion. His eyes seemed to question me. If he greeted everyone like that, there would one day be someone who could seriously exploit his weaknesses.

"I'd ask what you were doing here, gawking, when you should be inside, buying."

He lowered his broom and gestured towards the door. It was amazing how his personality seemed to do a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree flip when I said that I would buy something. This guy must have been a huge money-grubber.

"Um-"

"Hurry up! I haven't got all day!"

I walked through the door, wondering if it was some sort of a trap. The employee stormed past me and headed to the counter.

The lights were very low, so it was almost impossible to see. It was probably for the nocturnal animals. Luckily, the warm temperature inside was a lovely escape from the biting winter air. Surprisingly, the smell of animal dander and manure seemed to be absent from the store. There was every kind of pet imaginable, from giant St. Bernard dogs to tiny lizards. All of the animals stood in metal cages- apart from the fish, of course, who had their little fish tanks. The animals made little barks, sweet mews and cute tweets at me, trying to get my attention. It felt as if they were saying 'Pick me! Pick me!' or something. I almost felt bad for them, but I didn't go into the pet store for _them_. I went in to pick up the cute, fluffy chick.

"There you are!"

I made my way over to the window where Gilbird and the rest of the birds were on display.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9-Thinking Time_

The chick looked up at me for a second, flapping its wings. It began to fly around my head in circles, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"How much for the chick?"

"Thirty dollars," said the blond man from behind the counter.

"What? Doesn't that seem like a little too much?" I asked; I didn't know much about buying animals or average prices, but that seemed pretty expensive to me.

"It's the standard price."

The chick perched on my head, and gave me a weird feeling as it walked through my hair. I ambled over to the counter.

"Are you sure you don't want a perch for him?"

I could see exactly what he was doing, trying to get more money out of me. I didn't fall for it-besides, I didn't have the money to pay for a perch.

"I think my head will do the trick," I chucked, as I handed over the money.

"Suit yourself."

The second I stepped out of the door, the light blinded me; my eyes must have adjusted to the poor lighting in the pet store. I blinked a couple of times, in an attempt to keep the sun out of my eyes.

* * *

After about half an hour of walking, I made it back to my apartment building. I ran up the stairs, hoping I could avoid trouble; I didn't want Gilbird getting hurt. One I made it to the third floor, I began to ponder. What Matthew had said about the anthropomorphic countries was playing on my mind. The idea of countries being people was somewhat familiar to me, but I still wasn't ready to believe him just yet. It's going to take more than Matthew's words to convince me. I needed evidence. For all I knew, the reason it could have seemed so familiar was because a weirdo was trying to convince me that it was real.

I paced into the kitchen, my stomach rumbling after a long day. I raided the cabinets, the fridge and the freezer in search for something to eat.

After a good square meal, I fed Gilbird and decided to try and take out some time to think. I wanted to try and recall something. Anything. I had given up on my memory, but my determination was rekindled by my encounter with Matthew. Before, I had no leads, nothing to help spark something.

I tried to recall where I had seen him before. I didn't care how vague the memory was; I just needed to remember a little something. It seemed that the deeper I thought, the worse my headache became, but I had to endure the pain and keep thinking. In the end, however, my head hurt so much that I just had to stop. I had built my hopes up too much again. I didn't understand why my headaches only arose when I thought deeply…


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10- Where Are They Now?_

The next day, I had a day off from work. Thank God. It was the perfect time to do some research and look into myself a bit more. I was still reluctant to believe what Matthew had told me, but it couldn't hurt to look into it a little. I could get some extra information, possibly, or I could find nothing. I guess it was worth the try.

I grabbed Gilbird and locked my apartment door. Once I had got to the bottom of the stairs, I unchained by bike and took off. I decided to head to the Internet café.

The weather outside was absolutely terrible; the wind was extremely chilly. I placed Gilbird in my pocket so that he was warm. I could only imagine how cold it must have been to only have a down of feathers to keep you warm.

The traffic was horrid, even worse than the weather. It was bad, as in twenty-cars-waiting-at-a-stoplight bad. I was forced to ride on the sidewalk. I had to swerve in and out of disgruntled pedestrians. After about half an hour of dodging people, I had finally made it to the Internet café.

I swung the door open, eager to get out of the wind. I closed the door behind me, and Gilbird escaped out of my coat pocket. I sat down at a computer that was far away from the door, so I wouldn't receive the cold snap every time someone else opened the door. I opened the Internet program on the computer and navigated to the home page of one of the best search engines.

At first, I wondered what to look up. If I wasn't specific enough, I'd never find anything useful. Then, I remembered that Matthew had given me his full name. So I searched 'Is Matthew Williams Canada?' and surprisingly, a lot of results came up. 78,400 results, to be exact. I scrolled down the list until one of the results caught my eye.

'_Where Are They Now?'_

I looked at the small amount of information that was displayed underneath the title. I decided to click the link. It took me to an article.

'_At the latest World Summit meeting, none of the countries had showed up. Not even the members of the G8 had turned up. As of November 30th, all but one of the countries has been proclaimed as 'missing'.'_

_Witnesses claim they saw a country go into the World Summit building. He was originally thought to be America, but was later proven to be Matthew Williams, or Canada.'_

Matthew Williams…

'_The best detectives from all around the world have been hired to help find the countries, and to help find out the cause of their disappearance.'_

I continued to read the article, but it didn't give any important information after that part. A lot of it was being repeated. I checked the other websites to see if the information was legit, and there actually were lots of sites detailing the event. It was as if it were headline news.

I found much information on the topic. I found newspaper articles, short descriptions of the nations, contact information should one have any information on the subject, a list of detectives on the case, even a webcomic and a manga series. You name it; I probably found it.

So, it looked like Matthew has been telling the truth. It wasn't a joke. There are personifications of countries, and they are indeed missing. When I thought about it, I remembered that Canada mentioned something about no-one turning up to the World Summit.

I quickly went on to the image part of the search engine and typed 'Prussia'; if what Canada said was correct, images of me would most definitely appear. And they did. Hundreds of pictures of me appeared on the monitor. Most were of me and baby chicks. I guess that prove it.

I _am_ Prussia.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11- Jogging my Memory_

Sure, the images could have been digitally edited, but there were just too many of them to make it seem likely. No-one would go through that much trouble to trick me, unless they had a _lot_ of free time on their hands. That would be pretty un-awesome if someone had tricked me. Another thing that struck me as odd was that I felt that some of the other people in the photos were somewhat familiar.

One of the photographs featured three other people; a blonde guy with blue eyes in a military uniform, with a stern look on his face; a light-hearted young man with auburn hair and a random curl on his head; and a rather laid-back looking man with a deadpan expression and...Was that a _sword_ on his belt?

One of the photographs I came across reminded me of what had landed me in the hospital in the first place. It was me, a French-looking man and a Spaniard. We were all drinking merrily in a bar together. It seemed that all of the photographs were familiar in some way or form, but I just couldn't put my finger on _how_ they were familiar.

I was still curious about the other countries' disappearances. According to the Internet, they had gone missing at around the same time that I had lost my memory. Was there a connection? The odds of the two events happening at the same sort of time were incredibly slim.

Whilst doing some additional research, I found that some people were discussing possible locations for the countries. America was most likely to be in a fast-food restaurant somewhere, they thought. However, that spanned an extremely wide area. It was too broad to be of any help. I skimmed the rest of the comments.

I found a very interesting article about Matthew. It was basically about how Canada was conducting his own search for the countries, because he wanted the results that the police and the detectives weren't giving. I thought that was pretty awesome of him, to be bold enough to look for them himself.

Eventually, my research came to a standstill; the only other information I found was stuff that I already knew. I shut down the computer. "We found out a lot, didn't we, Gilbird?" I said to the chick, who replied with a sweet chirp. "I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat."

When I got outside, it felt like it was ten degrees warmer than it had been on the way to the Internet café. Gilbird didn't have to go into my jacket this time, so he took his normal spot- the spot on top of my head. I was about to get on my bike, when I noticed something amongst the crowd- a flash of light brown hair and a green sweatshirt. Was it Matthew?

I got onto my bike and pedaled through the crowd. "Matthew!" I called out. The person, who I assumed to be Canada, turned around.

"Prussia?" He had a shocked look on his face. I was right! It was him. "I mean, Gilbert! What are you doing here?"

"Not much. And Prussia is fine," I told him.

"So, do you believe me now?" he asked.

I nodded in response. His face lit up, like a child's does on Christmas morning. His voice grew quieter. "Does this mean that you...remembered?"

"No, I didn't remember anything. But I did do some research and found proof that what you said was true."

"Really?"

"Yeah! And that's not it. I found out that all of the other countries are missing!" I exclaimed. "I didn't know you were on the lookout for them. That's very brave of you."

"Yeah. Someone had to do it, and those detectives aren't making any progress," Matthew said. "If things stay the way they are, we might never find them."

"That's over-dramatic, don't you think? It's been six weeks. I mean, come on. It's obviously going to take longer than that. Even _I _would have a hard time finding them if I didn't have any clues. And I'm really awesome, so that's saying something!"

I got tired of him being so damn pessimistic. It was really annoying to have to listen to, like he had already given up, even though the search had barely started. Part of me wanted to yell 'show some confidence, damn it!' "If you're really that worried about it, then I'll help you out."

"Really?"

Matthew looked surprised. I could tell from the wonder in his eyes. "So you'll help?"

His expression changed when I nodded to confirm that I would help him.

"But...I don't think you'll be much help without your memories."

That hit me like a punch in the gut. Insulting the guy who just offered to help you? Now, that was cold. I'm not useless. I'm awesome!

"Before we do anything, I think we should get your memories back. It could really help."

"And what do you suggest I do?" I asked. I wasn't going to shove all of the responsibility on him. But, since he suggested it, Matthew should have at least had some idea of how I could jog my memory. I'd been trying to do it by myself for a while now, and I had not succeeded. With help, I might make some progress. After all, there is nothing I can't do. I'm_ Prussia!_

"I don't have any ideas right now but, if you give me some time, I could think of something," Canada replied.

I was beginning to get used to his soft and quiet voice. I was upset by what he had just said, though. I had just been building my hopes up, just to have it crash back down again. I guess I probably shouldn't have expected so much of him.

Matthew looked down at his watch. "Damn! I'm late!"

Late for _what?_ What could he have possibly been late for that was more important than me?

"I've got a meeting with my boss. I'm supposed to be there right now!" His voice filled with worry. "I gotta get going."

"Okay, but do we have a way that we can contact each other?"

Matthew withdrew a notebook and a ballpoint pen from his pocket and handed it to me. I scribbled my apartment's address on the paper. I handed the notebook and pen back to him.

"Here's my address. Stop by when your meeting with your boss is over."

Matthew nodded and went off on his merry way.


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12- Prussia's Diary_

I went back home and made myself some lunch- pancakes, to be exact. I felt like eating something light, yet filling. I sat on the couch and indulged in their soft, sweet goodness, when there was a repeated, loud tapping on the door.

_Why can't they bother me some other time?_

I got up from my couch and went to answer the door, wondering why whoever was knocking at the door seemed to be in such a hurry. I opened the door to find a very-disorientated Matthew in the hallway. His hair was all matted and scruffy, and I saw a glint of fear in his eyes. He was gasping for breath, as if he had ran all the way up the stairs.

"What's gotten into you, Matthew?"

"I'm not completely sure…I was in the elevator and someone started a fight with me! I-I'm not even sure why."

"Yeah, there's a problem with that around here. Elevators seem to be one of those places for bad people to hang around in these parts, it seems."

His breathing began to regulate, and he slumped onto my couch. Make yourself at home, much?

"So, have you got any ideas as to how I can jog my memory?"

"Yes! I came up with it a little while ago," Canada said. "You have a diary you've been writing in since you were young! You should definitely have some memories in there."

"I have a diary?"

"Yeah! You told me about it one time. Apparently, you'd been writing it 'since time began'. You've written almost everything that's ever happened to you in it, even about when you used to work for Hungary! It should jog your memories."

"Then I can remember how I lost them."

"Huh? Didn't you lose them in a car crash?"

"No, I only told you what the doctor said. I doubt that was the case. I mean, all of the countries went missing _at the same time as I lost my memories. _There's no way that's a coincidence. I bet all of the other countries have lost their memories too," I replied. "After all, I'm one of those missing countries, so I think it's safe to say that they're probably in the same situation as I am. I also think that what happened was planned out. Someone did this to us."

"Wow! Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Someone did this to us, and I want to know who!"

It was an idea that I had in the back of my mind the whole time I was waiting for Matthew to arrive. I think it makes perfect sense. I might not have any memory, but I'm not an idiot. It didn't take me long to come up with the idea. And the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

"So you think your memory loss was planned?"

"Of course it was planned out! Did you really think I would lose all of my memories just by drink driving?"

Seriously, I am much too awesome to lose my memory in that way.

"I agree with what you said, though. The other countries must be in the same situation as you are, Prussia."

"You think so?" I asked. "The search just got harder…"

The Canadian looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"We not only have to find them, but we have to jog their memories too," I explained. "Good thing I'm helping 'cause there's no way you'd be able to do this without the help of my awesomeness," I added, flashing a cocky grin his way.

Matthew's cheeks turned pink. Was that a blush?

"Are you…are you _blushing_, Matthew?"

"What? No! Anyway, about the diary…there are at least one hundred books of it! You kept it at Germany's house, I think."

"Why would I keep my diary in someone else's house?" I asked. "I wouldn't keep something so personal in someone else's house."

"Because that's where you lived ever since the wall between East and West Germany was torn down."

Well, that answers one question, at least. Although Prussia is no longer on the map, I still exist because it was part of Germany. I never would have guessed that, but it did make some sense.

Looks like we're off to Germany to get my diary back.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13- Journey to Germany_

The plane journey was actually very relaxing. Matthew, deep in slumber, started to fall onto my shoulder. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about us…but, then again, it wouldn't have been too bad if they did, I suppose.

I gazed out of the window at the gloomy skies. I still couldn't figure out what my diary was doing in Germany. I don't remember ever living in Germany at all. This was all extremely confounding, sometimes to the point whether I questioned the reliability of what Canada was telling me. Then again, I'm sure someone so friendly wouldn't do such a thing. I decided to just clear my mind, lie back and relax.

* * *

After a long and tedious search around the country of Germany, we finally came to the house of the country himself. It looked grand on the outside, and pretty old-fashioned, too. For some reason, the door was unlocked, almost as if Germany had assumed he wouldn't be gone for very long. I gingerly opened the door, carefully browsing my surroundings. The door led to the kitchen. I expected it to be messy, but it was virtually spotless. Wow. Was Germany this much of a clean-freak? All of the other rooms in the house were just as tidy, if not more so, than the kitchen!

The last room we came to was the basement, which looked nothing like the other rooms at all. It was very messy. Empty beer bottles had been scattered everywhere. Pornographic magazines lay torn all over the floor. It was messy, but I doubt that my diary was hidden in here. I noticed another door just to the side of me and I carefully opened it, although it took a few bangs with my foot to get it open. There was another room in the basement!

I trudged through the mess, watching that I didn't trip over anything. Rows of many bookshelves lined the walls, stacked with a ton of dusty books. I wiped the spines over to see what books they were...and they all shared the same title, written in eloquent gold writing.

'_The Great Prussia's Diary.'_

They all had different volume numbers on them. It took me a while finding the first one.

I looked down at the first page and began to read. Time to regain some memories.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14-Memories Revealed_

Everything about the first volume of my diary looked familiar. I remembered when I wrote this entry. The memory came back as if it had never been missing. I wrote the entry when I was working for Hungary. He kept ordering me around, and whenever I did what he said-only way more awesome-he'd yell at me for some reason.

The memories of that came back to me easily. I remembered how fun those times were. I was such a cute kid! But it was only the memories of my time with Hungary that came back to me while reading that one. After I regained all my memories from that time, I closed the volume and skipped the next few volumes, so that I could go to a different section of my life.

The next volume I picked up had entries about my little brother, Holy Roman Empire, and his death. Although what I had written wasn't very specific, I could visualize the images in my head. I remembered finding my younger brother's corpse in the middle of the battlefield. And I recalled who'd done it-France. I remembered finding my other little brother too. The one that was identical to Holy Roman Empire that would one day grow up into the stiff person from the picture, Germany. I called him West. I remembered raising West and him to grow up to be strong countries.

I didn't need to look into my awesome diary anymore. The memories were erupting from their graves. I had the same headache I had before, but I gritted my teeth and just put up with it. Pain was a small price to pay for regaining my life and all that I had forgotten.

I remembered going to war against Austria with the help of Spain and France. I remembered the look on his face as we invaded. And I remembered retreat- no, _letting them off the hook_, after Hungary came into the fight. I wasn't scared or anything. I just didn't feel like finishing the battle at the time.

I remembered how West met Italy, hiding in a tomato box. I remembered how the Axis Powers formed. Italy and Japan were the other members of the group. The picture of us that I had seen was an Axis group picture that I had snuck my way into. I remembered how Canada introduced me to maple syrup and how awesome it was.

However, despite regaining quite a few of my previous memories, I couldn't remember how I lost my memories. I remembered going to the World Conference Meeting. And that Canada hadn't arrived yet. He was late. All of the other countries were there, but none of them other than me noticed the Canadian's absence. I had wondered where he was. The door to the room opened, and I had thought that Canada finally had gotten there. Then nothing. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the hospital with no clue who I was.

That's so messed up! The one memory I really wanted didn't come back! NOW how will I find out who caused my amnesia?! So not awesome! Why'd _that_ have to be the one hole in my memory?!

* * *

_In the six months after Prussia got his memories back, he and Canada started their search for the other nations, using the World Conference building as their base. Whenever one of them found a possibility of finding a nation, one would contact the other and they would meet there. These things were too important to be talked about on the phone. It was quite an efficient way of doing things._

_In that time, the duo found two personifications. Both were in Italy, but different parts. One was found in South Italy and the other was found in North Italy, to be precise, Rome._

_The first unmindful nation the two found was Kiku Honda…Japan. Prussia found Japan in Rome taking pictures of everything in sight. Prussia was able to talk to him and fill him in on the situation. The Japanese man was reluctant to believe him at first. But when Prussia showed him a couple of pictures he was able to convince Japan. The island nation regained his memories by seeing the World Conference room. He works in charge of their intelligence._

_They found another country two months later. Lovino Vargas, otherwise known as Romano or Southern Italy. Canada had found the tomato-lover at a super market in the produce section. The Italian had been loading his shopping basket with his favorite red fruit when Canada saw him. After Canada told him everything, Lovino cussed and stormed out of the store muttering about how Matthew was almost as annoying as the Germans. He wasn't convinced until he regained his memories. He got them back after taking a short trip to the country of Spain. He needed to find Antonio and Feliciano, his younger brother. _

_Although both of those two had regained their memories they had the same problem as Prussia. They could not recall how they lost their memories. Their memories cut off at different parts, but all within 5 minutes of the door to the Conference room opening. Whoever had come in through that door must have been the culprit._


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15- The Meeting_

The group had just called a meeting in the World Conference room, which meant one thing. One of them had a lead about the lost nations.

Japan had just left the elevator and was heading to the conference room. Although nobody would be able to tell from his face, he was very eager to tell the others about his discovery. When he entered the room, he found that it was empty, which was no surprise considering that he had arrived early. Japan sat down in his normal seat and waited for the others to arrive.

He couldn't help but reminisce about the old meetings that they used to have in there, before all of this happened. Like the time when America proposed the idea to genetically engineer a giant hero to protect the planet from global warming. Or how Britain and France had always argued about things. And how Greece never stayed awake for one meeting. When would meetings proceed like they used to? Japan looked forward to that day.

Japan didn't notice that Canada had arrived in the room while he had been thinking. But it wasn't his spacing-out that was at fault. Canada hadn't even tried to make himself known. The only one that noticed him was his polar bear that he brought with him. "Who are you?" It asked the blond.

"I'm Canada, your owner," Matthew said, sounding upset.

Romano was the next to arrive. "So what is this meeting about ? It better not be a dead end like it was last time," he asked as he took his seat.

"We should wait for Prussia-san to arrive before I explain. And I don't think that this one will be a dead end. I can assure you it won't."

So the three of them waited for Prussia to come in. Seconds turned into minutes which soon became an hour. Romano was getting inpatient. Didn't that _bastard_ realize they were all waiting for him?

"Where the hell is that damn bastard?! He's holding up the meeting!" He really wanted to know what Japan had to say. Maybe he had found the tomato bastard or his idiot brother. "Just tell us already!" Romano snapped.

Japan was about to reply when the door to the Conference room opened. "The awesome one has arrived! Your lives just got awesomer!" He sat down in a random seat. "So, what's up, Japan?"

The Asian answered with another question. "Did any of you see the news yesterday?"

"I had more awesome things to do." Prussia said, "What about the news?"

Japan sighed. He would have to explain all of it. "There was a segment on a wonder child who won 3 science awards in the past 7 months."

"What does that have to do with us?" Romano scoffed as he rolled his eyes. Why should they care about some wonder child? It's not like he knows where the others are. So why bother with it?

"I think he's Finland."

"One of the Nordic countries?"

Japan nodded. "Hai. When I saw the picture on the news I recognized him. But I am not sure because I have only seen him once or twice during the old meetings." Kiku seemed to not be completely sure of himself, but his usual expression made it hard for anyone to notice how he actually felt. "According to the news, he just showed up out of nowhere eight months ago. And he has been showing his intelligence nonstop since then." Although it hadn't sounded convincing at first, the last fact seemed like proof. _Eight months ago_. That was the same time that all the nations had gone missing except for Canada. It wasn't a coincidence that he had shown up then. "He doesn't go by his human name, Tino Väinämöinen, but not all of us knew our human names when we had amnesia." He glanced at Prussia. "So it is a good chance that it's him."

"Then let's go see him!" Romano said. "How are we supposed to know if we don't check?!" He had a very good point. All of this guess-work could be avoided in one trip.

"When do you want to leave?" Japan asked.

'Right now! The sooner the better!" Prussia said. He might have been a drunkard, but when it came to investigating leads he worked very hard. Gilbert was making good of his promise to Matthew and dropped everything when there was a chance of finding one of their companions, or enemies depending on which country it was. He never explained why to Romano and Japan. Maybe he thought he was too awesome to talk about things as embarrassing as a promise.

"Alright," Canada said. "Let's leave right now."


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16- What's up with Toivo?_

Canada booked the four of them a flight that would get them to Finland in about two hours. On the flight Japan finished debriefing them, and went more into detail. According to Japan, Tino went by the name Toivo Vainamoinen, so he had the same last name but couldn't remember his first. And Japan specified where in Finland 'Toivo' was. After all, you can't find a person if you just have the country. He was living in an apartment in Helsinki, the capital. There was a lot more information that was told but none of the nations remembered the facts because they were irrelevant to their search. But the more and more they listened to Japan's debriefing, the more the nations agreed that Toivo was Finland.

When they got off the plane the countries split up into groups of two. That way they could cover more ground. Prussia went with Canada and Japan went with Romano. After the group separated into pairs and headed on their separate ways, Canada asked Prussia "Where do you want to look first?"

"His apartment," Prussia said. "There's more of a chance that he'll be there."

The two of them changed direction towards where the apartment was located.

After about a half hour of walking, a very tall apartment building came into sight. The building looked to be about 20 stories from the ground. It was the same address as Toivo's, so it had to be the place. "What floor did Japan say he lived on again?"

"Th-The 12th floor," Canada stuttered, shivering from the cold.

"Since I'm so awesome, I don't need my jacket. Why don't you wear it, Birdie?" Gilbert asked as he slipped his jacket off. "Why is your face getting red? Are you sick?"

"N-No, I'm not getting sick!" Matthew stammered, "Y-You c-can k-keep your jacket." The thought of wearing Prussia's jacket made Canada nervous. Didn't guys always give their girlfriends their jackets when they're cold? Canada was NOT a girl, or Prussia's lover. But the prospect still made him blush a little.

He held his polar bear closer. "I don't need a jacket." He tried to refrain from stuttering and shivering. He was trying to be convincing

"Are you sure?" Prussia said holding out his jacket. "It would be unawesome to get sick."

"W-We're going into the building anyways," Matthew said. "It'll be warm in there."

Prussia shrugged, "Suit yourself." He walked in through the front door and was sure to hold the door open for Canada. The first thing Canada noticed when he entered was that the heating was on. And it was really warm. He wouldn't need the jacket now.

The lobby of the building was huge. The ceiling was at least six feet above Canada's head, and the perimeter was very large. But it was mostly empty except for the manager desk, over to the left, fairly close to the wall. There was a brownish rug on the floor. The elevator was on the other side of the room next to the stairwell. The wall was painted a bright red, and the paint was starting to chip. There was a man sitting behind the manager's desk. He had greasy blond hair and a 5 o'clock shadow. He looked like the type of person who didn't take care of himself very well.

"What's your business here?" the man asked with a gruff voice. "You look like troublemakers."

"We're just here to see a friend," Canada said before Prussia could say something provocative.

"Who?"

"Fin- I mean Toivo Vainamoinen." This guy wouldn't know who he meant if he had said Finland. The guy only knew him by his fake name. And it wasn't even confirmed yet that it was Finland.

"He's in room 12B."

A small Finnish boy came walking down the staircase. He had the signature Nordic blond hair, which was cut short. His eyes were violet, like Finland's, but they lacked a sparkle to them that Finland's had. He was holding some envelopes, as if he was going through his mail. But why was he so glum? It was safe to assume that the boy was Finland, but he seemed... different. A lot sadder, like there was something missing from is life.

Prussia, Romano, and Japan had seemed a little different due to their amnesia, but their demeanors hadn't changed. Romano had still been grouchy and addicted to tomatoes. Japan had still been emotionally stifled and easily influenced. Prussia had still been awesome. So why wasn't Finland cheerful? Finland was one of the most cheerful and happy nations around, second only to Italy. It just didn't make sense.


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter 17- Business with Toivo_

"Wasn't Finland always hanging around with Sweden? He always seemed happy with him too." Canada always used to sit quietly at the back of the room during the world conference meetings. So he tended to notice things about the other countries. "If Sweden was gone, that'd leave Finland seriously depressed. Even though he doesn't know who Sweden is, he still misses him." Canada decided in his head.

When the Fin made it down the stairs, Prussia was the first to speak up. "Toivo! We've got business with you!"

Toivo looked up from his mail. When he saw Prussia, he looked scared.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before. How could we have business?"

"You might not remember it, but we have met. I am the great Prussia, and this is Birdie," Gilbert said with a grin.

Matthew elbowed Prussia in the side. "My name's not Birdie!"

"But Birdie's an awesome nickname!"

Canada shot Prussia a stern glare, and then he turned to face Toivo. "I'm Canada."

"Canada and Prussia?" Toivo looked down at the floor. "Those names don't ring a bell."

He looked a little embarrassed. He put a hand behind his head, looking and feeling very awkward in the situation. "Sorry... Can I ask you something? How long have we known each other exactly?" He just had to ask. The two of them didn't seem familiar, but there was a very high chance that he knew they had known him. But there was no guarantee. And if they had met before...

Canada and Prussia exchanged looks, both wondering the same thing. How much should they tell him? He would dismiss them immediately if they told him the whole truth. Prussia had been a perfect example of that. Maybe they could stretch the truth? Or be vague. That'd work. Prussia was the first one to speak up and give an answer.

"It feels like it's been centuries," he said..

Finland laughed. "So...a while? Like, more than eight months?"

"Yeah, a lot longer than that," Prussia said jokingly. "But we've never had a face-to-face conversation. I'm pretty sure you've heard of me at one point. You just don't remember it yet."

"Yeah, you seem very... memorable," Toivo said. "So what business do you have with me? I don't mean to seem rude, but why'd you come here? Did you need help with something? Or did you-"

"Slow down! I can't understand you when you talk that fast. Birdie and I don't need your help. It's the opposite. You forgot your past right? We're here to help you regain those lost memories."

_Good_, he thought. He didn't say anything that revealed too much, and at the same time he told the truth.

"What?!" The Fin asked, "You're here to help me get _my_ memories back? But why? From what you said we didn't know each other very well. Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I'm awesome," Prussia said, with a smirk.

"I have another question. If you know me, then do you know who Su-san is?" Finland asked with hope in his eyes.

"Su-san? What is that a nickname?" Matthew asked, "Can you tell us the person's real name?" Canada knew Finland liked to hang out with Sweden, but how was he supposed to know what Finland's nickname for him was?

"I don't know his real name," Finland admitted. "I only remember 'Su-san'." That made things more difficult. But then again "Su-san" was obviously not Romano or Japan so they wouldn't have been able to help out anyways. They could start searching for "Su-san" but they'd need an actual name! If they did pursue it, they wouldn't get very far.

"Sorry, we can't help you with just that," Canada mumbled.

"What?" Finland asked, "I couldn't hear what you said."

"He said that not even we can find the guy with just a nickname." Prussia said. Finland looked down as he heard that. He was disappointed. Curiosity was eating at him. He wanted to know who Su-san was. If he got his memories back, he could remember who Su-san was. Then he wouldn't have to rely on those two to find him. Something told Finland that Su-san was a very important person to him.

Either way, he would still need the duo's help. "Okay, so what do we do first to get my memories back?"

"Hm, we're almost out of bread, so I should probably pick up more of that." The blonde muttered trying to remember what he and his little brother needed. He grabbed a loaf of bread off the shelf and put it in his shopping basket. "Emil said that he wanted me to pick up some more licorice for him, and I think we're running low on milk." The boy continued going down the isle. "And we could probably use some more eggs." The Norwegian decided. Without realizing it, the boy walked into the liquor section. When he finally looked up and saw where he was, he spotted _him_.

He was a Dane with wild blond hair that looked out of control. He had blue eyes, and a smile on his face as he grabbed a six pack of beer out of the freezer. Although he didn't know why, the Norwegian froze at the sight of him. He had the urge to run away from the guy as fast as he could before the guy noticed him. But before he could, the Dane looked up and saw the Norwegian. His face light up. "Norge!" The Dane said with a smile that was bigger than before. (If that was possible.) "Norge" didn't hesitate this time and bolted. He wanted to get away from this guy at all costs, even though he didn't understand why. He turned and went down a different isle. "Wait Norge!" The Dane shouted and chased after him.

The Norwegian ran to a different section of the store and almost dropped his basket along the way. After running for a few minutes, and trying to use the isles as a maze to lose the Dane, he stopped to catch his breath. He was convinced that he lost the Dane. But just to be sure, "Norge" looked over his shoulder to see if the Dane had followed. And the Norwegian did not like what he saw. To be blunt, the Dane was right there. And he still had that goofy grin on his face. "There you are Norgy! What a coincidence that we ran into each other here!"

Ran into each other? More like the guy ran after him. It had only been a few minutes and the Dane already annoyed the hell out of "Norge". But that shouldn't be enough to make him run. The Norwegian wondered, "Why did I run away from him again? I don't think I've seen him before. Although he does look familiar, but not in the good way." "Who are you?" "Norge" asked him.

"What?! Don't tell me that you ran away without knowing who I am?! It's me Denmark!" The Dane said seeming shocked.

"I've never seen you before in my life." The Norwegian said "And you can't be Denmark, that's a country."

"Oh, I see, you lost your memories too!" Denmark said. "Don't worry, they'll come back Norge!" He gave "Norge" a good ol' pat on that back.

Norway's expression was unreadable. Though an educated guess could be that he was annoyed. This was going to be a long day.

Norway decided to ignore the oddball Dane. He continued on his shopping trying to pretend that Denmark was not following him. It was pretty hard considering how annoying the guy was. His memories slowly came back to him as Denmark followed him not shutting his mouth for a second. Norway had known this guy since childhood right? And back then he wasn't any less annoying. The two of them were countries, Nordic ones. And Denmark was a drunkard who loves beer. Which is probably why they ran into each other in the liquor section. And Norway... had a troll, and could use Norwegian magic. And he had a little brother, Emil. That he already knew, considering that little brother asked him to buy licorice. But then he remembered that his little brother was the personification of Iceland. The memories came back easily. He especially remembered that horrid nickname Denmark gave him, "Norge". And much to Norway's dismay, that nickname stuck. Even the other Nordics called him that sometimes. Just how did he forget this all again? Of course he'd forget _that_ of all things.

"You left your hairclip!" Denmark said.

"Huh, hairclip?" Norway asked. His hand immediately went up to touch his hair where his cross clip normally was. It wasn't there. Norway's hand moved to a different part of his head to see if it had moved. It wasn't there either. The clip wasn't in his hair at all. Where was it?! Then Norway spotted it in Denmark's hand.

"You left this behind in the last World Conference!" Denmark said, "So I took it and held it for you!"

"World Conference?" Norway asked. The last thing he remembered was he was on his way to the meeting. He didn't remember what happened when he got there odd. He was walking up the stairs.. the nothing. He should be able to remember that. Why couldn't he? It was like those memories were blocked off. How could that be possible? Memories shouldn't be blocked unless they were traumatic. Sure meetings are bad, but not _that_ bad. Definitely not traumatic! So what was the deal?

"I left it at the world meeting?" Norway asked. Why would he leave it behind? He always wore it!

"Yeah so I decided to hold onto it until I saw you again! Took longer than I thought!" Denmark said.

"Uh... thanks." Norway said with a slight grimace. To himself he thought, "Great, now I'm in debt to _Denmark_ of all people."

**I'd like to thank vc103221 for helping me get Denmark and Norway's characters right. Danke!**


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter 18- Su-san?_

"Wasn't Finland always hanging around with Sweden? He always seemed happy with him too." Canada always used to sit quietly at the back of the room during the world conference meetings. So he tended to notice things about the other countries. "If Sweden was gone, that'd leave Finland seriously depressed. Even though he doesn't know who Sweden is, he still misses him." Canada decided in his head.

When the Fin made it down the stairs, Prussia was the first to speak up. "Toivo! We've got business with you!"

Toivo looked up from his mail. When he saw Prussia, he looked scared.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before. How could we have business?"

"You might not remember it, but we have met. I am the great Prussia, and this is Birdie," Gilbert said with a grin.

Matthew elbowed Prussia in the side. "My name's not Birdie!"

"But Birdie's an awesome nickname!"

Canada shot Prussia a stern glare, and then he turned to face Toivo. "I'm Canada."

"Canada and Prussia?" Toivo looked down at the floor. "Those names don't ring a bell."

He looked a little embarrassed. He put a hand behind his head, looking and feeling very awkward in the situation. "Sorry... Can I ask you something? How long have we known each other exactly?" He just had to ask. The two of them didn't seem familiar, but there was a very high chance that he knew they had known him. But there was no guarantee. And if they had met before...

Canada and Prussia exchanged looks, both wondering the same thing. How much should they tell him? He would dismiss them immediately if they told him the whole truth. Prussia had been a perfect example of that. Maybe they could stretch the truth? Or be vague. That'd work. Prussia was the first one to speak up and give an answer.

"It feels like it's been centuries," he said..

Finland laughed. "So...a while? Like, more than eight months?"

"Yeah, a lot longer than that," Prussia said jokingly. "But we've never had a face-to-face conversation. I'm pretty sure you've heard of me at one point. You just don't remember it yet."

"Yeah, you seem very... memorable," Toivo said. "So what business do you have with me? I don't mean to seem rude, but why'd you come here? Did you need help with something? Or did you-"

"Slow down! I can't understand you when you talk that fast. Birdie and I don't need your help. It's the opposite. You forgot your past right? We're here to help you regain those lost memories."

_Good_, he thought. He didn't say anything that revealed too much, and at the same time he told the truth.

"What?!" The Fin asked, "You're here to help me get _my_ memories back? But why? From what you said we didn't know each other very well. Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I'm awesome," Prussia said, with a smirk.

"I have another question. If you know me, then do you know who Su-san is?" Finland asked with hope in his eyes.

"Su-san? What is that a nickname?" Matthew asked, "Can you tell us the person's real name?" Canada knew Finland liked to hang out with Sweden, but how was he supposed to know what Finland's nickname for him was?

"I don't know his real name," Finland replied. "I only remember 'Su-san'." That made things more difficult. But then again 'Su-san' was obviously not Romano or Japan so they wouldn't have been able to help out anyway. They could start searching for 'Su-san', but they'd need an actual name! If they did pursue it, they wouldn't get very far.

"Sorry, we can't help you with just that," Canada mumbled.

"What? I couldn't hear what you said."

"Not even we can find the guy with just a nickname," Prussia said. Finland looked down as he heard that. He was disappointed. Curiosity was eating at him. He wanted to know who Su-san was. If he got his memories back, he could remember who Su-san was. Then he wouldn't have to rely on those two to find him. Something told Finland that Su-san was a very important person to him.

Either way, he would still need the duo's help. "Okay, so what do we do first to get my memories back?"


	19. Chapter 19

_Chapter 19- Norge and the Dane_

"We're almost out of bread, so I should probably pick up more of that."

He grabbed a loaf of bread off the shelf and put it in his shopping basket.

"Emil said that he wanted me to pick up some more licorice for him, and I think we're running low on milk." The boy continued walked down the aisle. "And we could probably use some more eggs." Without realizing it, the boy walked into the liquor section. When he finally looked up and saw where he was, he spotted _him_.

He was a Dane with wild blond hair. He had blue eyes and a smile on his face as he grabbed a six-pack of beer out of the freezer. The Norwegian froze at the sight of him. He had the urge to run away from the guy as fast as he could before the guy noticed him. But before he could, the Dane looked up and saw the Norwegian. His face light up.

"Norge!"

'Norge' didn't hesitate this time and bolted. He wanted to get away from this guy at all costs. He turned and went down a different aisle.

"Wait, Norge!" The Dane shouted and chased after him.

The Norwegian ran to a different section of the store and almost dropped his basket along the way. After running for a few minutes, and trying to use the aisles as a maze to lose the Dane, he stopped to catch his breath. He was convinced that he lost the Dane. Just to be sure, 'Norge' looked over his shoulder to see if the Dane had followed. And the Norwegian did not like what he saw. To be blunt, the Dane was right there. And he still had that goofy grin on his face. "There you are, Norgy! What a coincidence that we ran into each other here!"

It had only been a few minutes and the Dane already annoyed the hell out of 'Norge' . But that shouldn't be enough to make him run.

_Why did I run away from him again? I don't think I've seen him before. Although he does look familiar, but not in the good way._

"Who are you?" 'Norge' asked him.

"What?! Don't tell me that you ran away without knowing who I am?! It's me, Denmark!"

"I've never seen you before in my life," the Norwegian said. "And you can't be Denmark, because that's a country."

"Oh, I see! You lost your memories too!" Denmark said. "Don't worry, they'll come back Norge!" He gave 'Norge' a pat on that back.

Norway's expression was unreadable. Norway decided to ignore the oddball Dane. He continued his shopping, trying to pretend that Denmark was not following him. It was pretty hard considering how annoying the guy was. His memories slowly came back to him as Denmark followed him. The two of them were countries, Nordic ones. And Denmark was a drunkard who loves beer. Norway had a troll, and could use magic. He had a little brother, Emil. Then he remembered that his little brother was the personification of Iceland. He remembered that horrid nickname Denmark gave him...'Norge'. Much to Norway's dismay, that nickname stuck. Even the other Nordics called him that sometimes.

"You left your hairclip!" Denmark said.

"Huh? My hairclip?" His hand immediately moved to touch his hair where his cross clip normally was. It wasn't there. Norway's hand moved to a different part of his head to see if it had moved. It wasn't there either. The clip wasn't in his hair at all. Then Norway spotted it in Denmark's hand.

"You left this behind in the last World Conference," Denmark said, "so I took it and held it for you!"

"World Conference?" The last thing he remembered was that he was on his way to the meeting. He didn't remember what happened when he got there. He was walking up the stairs. It was like the rest of those memories were blocked off. How could that be possible?

"I left it at the world meeting?" Norway asked.

"Yeah, so I decided to hold onto it until I saw you again! Took longer than I thought!" Denmark said.

"Uh... thanks," Norway said, with a slight grimace.

_Great. Now I'm in debt to _Denmark _of all people._

**I'd like to thank vc103221 for helping me get Denmark and Norway's characters right. Danke!**


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20- 'Norge' and the Dane_

Denmark ended up following Norway home. The Norwegian was unnerved by this. Now Denmark knew where he lived! It was one of those rent-to-own houses in a suburb. Norway lived there with Iceland. The two of them had been together since the world meeting. It was probably due to luck that they weren't split up. Most of the nations ended up in different places, so it was odd that they two managed to stay together the whole time.

Norway unlocked the door and walked in. Denmark followed. The Norwegian set the grocery bag down on the table. He put the food items away.

The kitchen was small- only a sink, a dishwasher, five cabinets, and a fridge. The table was in the dining room right next to the kitchen.

A boy walked into the dining room from the parlor. He had blue eyes, short silvery hair, and a puffin on his head. "Lukas! Did you get any licorice?"

"Yes I got some." He withdrew a bag of licorice out of the grocery bag, and held it up for his little brother to see.

"Can I have some?"

"Only if you call me big brother," Norway said.

"Can you call me that too?!" Denmark asked, with a grin on his face.

Iceland gained a weird sense of deja vu. It was just like the time he got that DNA test! Emil let out a sigh. "No. Can I just have the licorice now?"

Norway moved the licorice out of Emil's reach. "Not until you call me big brother."

"I don't want it _that_ badly," Emil said. "And why's Denmark here?"

"Cause I ran into Norge at the market!"

_What?! Emil knows who Denmark is?! How is that possible?! Didn't he have amnesia? Don't tell me he remembered the whole time!_

"So you have your memory?"

"I've had it almost the whole time," Iceland admitted. He took his chance and grabbed the licorice while his brother was distracted. He opened it and popped one in his mouth. "Mr. Puffin filled me in. It didn't take me long to remember." He looked kind of bored as he explained.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You would have thought I was making it up," Iceland told him. "So I stayed quiet."

Norway looked down in disappointment, and then he noticed that he didn't have the licorice anymore. At first he didn't know where it had went, but then he saw it in Iceland's possession. It was an understatement to say that Norway was upset by this. Norway really wanted Iceland to admit he was his brother. Iceland never called him 'big brother' unless he was threatened. Now Norway didn't have any leverage.

Wait! Where was Denmark? It wasn't like him to be quiet this long. Norway scanned the room to see what Denmark was doing. He was looking through the fridge.

"Do you have any beer here?!" Denmark asked. "I forgot to buy some at the market!" He moved the milk to see if there was anything behind it. And much to his dismay, there wasn't even a single drop of alcohol in there. Norway and Iceland weren't very heavy drinkers when it came to alcohol. But coffee was another story. The two never had enough coffee.

"We don't have any."

"What?!"


	21. Chapter 21

_Chapter 21- Finland_

No one in the group knew Finland very well, nor did they know very much about him. They had no idea how to jog his memory. It would have been better if there was a Nordic in the group. Seeing Sweden would definitely have given him _something_. But no one knew where he was, just like they didn't know where the rest of the countries are. No matter how much the four talked it over, none of them could figure out what they could do. They couldn't do anything similar to setting up a trip to Spain like they had for Romano. It just wouldn't work. Finland was a mystery. It seemed impossible to get his memories back. Prussia didn't believe it though. He still thought that they could get Finland's memories back somehow. He said, "I can do it! I'm awesome enough to jog his memory." Sadly, the other countries disagreed with the statement.

Japan was walking home when he thought of it. He had been thinking about the time Italy, Germany, and himself had been stranded on a desert island during WWII. Italy had made a Christmas tree out of twigs, then the Allies attacked the trio. But before anything bad could happen, Santa Claus appeared and gave them presents.

When Japan thought about it, Santa did look a lot like Finland, and he did have a Finnish accent. And wasn't Santa fabled to be immortal? Or at least live longer than humans, since he does his rounds every year? Kind of like a country. "That's it!" He had figured out how they could get back Finland's memories! Kiku ran home as fast as he could. He had to tell the others as soon as possible.

While he was running he didn't even stop to catch his breath. The only time he stopped before getting home was when he dropped his manga books that he had just bought.

It would have been easier to just look for a phone booth rather than run all the way home, but it didn't occur to him with all the excitement that overwhelmed him. It didn't take him more than a few minutes to get to his Japanese-style home. Japan quickly slid open the paper door and went inside. He set all his manga books on the kitchen table and made his way to the nearest phone. He dialled in seven digits and pressed the call button. He could hear the phone on the other line ringing.

"Hallo? If this is West's boss again, he isn't here! He hasn't gotten back yet! It's the awesome me!"

What? He had been getting many phone calls for Germany-san? It did make sense considering he had moved back into Germany's basement. He had been eager to get away from his "unawesome" neighbors. "Prussian-san, it is Japan," Japan said into the phone with a monotone voice.

"Oh Japan! What did you call me about?" Prussia asked on the other end of the line. Kiku heard the sound of guzzling afterwards.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

"Nein. I was just drinking some awesome German beer. So what's up?"

"I am calling a world meeting tomorrow," Japan said. "I think I may have found a way to jog Finland's memory." He hadn't exactly found out a way to jog his memories yet, but he had found a lead and was sure to find a way to get him to remember by tomorrow. He only had to do a bit of research and he would have an idea before the world meeting.

"Really? That's awesome!" Prussia said. "I'll tell the others."

" ."

The line on Prussia's side went dead, so Japan hung up the phone.

"That saved me the time I would spend calling the others. Now I can get to work researching Santa Claus."

He walked through the halls of his house until he found the door to the room where he kept his books. He slid open the paper door and walked over to the bookshelf. Did he have any books on Santa Claus? Or Finland? Japan carefully looked through the bookshelf, not overlooking a single title, and was sure to take out any book that involved Santa Claus or Finland.

Despite not being Christian, Japan had quite a few books mentioning the jolly beaded man. He had at least ten of them, along with a collection of newspaper articles.

One bore the headline: "Christmas Around the World." Germany, Italy, and Japan had written that article a few years ago. They had interviewed many countries about how people in their countries spent Christmas. Hadn't they included information about America, Switzerland, Russia, China, France, Finland, and the members of the Axis's ways of spending Christmas?

_Finland!_

Japan grabbed the article and began reading.


	22. Chapter 22

_Chapter 22- Francis Bonnefoy_

Santa was rumoured to live in the mountains somewhere between Finland and Russia. The Finnish often went to the saunas with their family on Christmas. There seemed to be nothing more about Santa Claus, however.

"This isn't going to be easy."

He flicked through his reference material until he came to a children's book. Whilst something like that wouldn't be much help, the topic of the story was Santa Claus, so children's fiction seemed like a good reference to have. If he remembered correctly, England had given him the boot entitled 'The Night Before Christmas'. It told the story of Santa visiting a family on Christmas Eve. He drove a sleigh pulled by eight magical reindeer, and wore an outfit of red rimmed with white- a similar outfit to what he wore when Japan spotted him during the ambush. The only difference was that he was riding in a plane, and not the conventional sleigh. Despite the fact that Finland was much too thin to be like the Santa portrayed in the story, it seemed his research was finally getting somewhere.

Japan had found an old tattered book- so tattered, in fact, that the title was practically indecipherable. The front cover depicted s washed-out image of Santa, so he took a look inside. It was a non-fiction book about the different myths about Santa. This gave Japan a clearer picture of what kind of things Santa was associated with. Maybe Finland _was _Santa after all. He placed the book back onto the shelf and decided to get some sleep.

Tino was in a very pleasant mood that morning; he awoke to a scruffy white dog licking his face.

"Hanatamago! Enough!" he yelled, barely refraining from bursting into fits of laughter.

Although Tino often felt down, especially when he thought of Su-san, he always felt better when he was near Hanatamago. That pup always knew how to cheer him up. He loved the little dog.

However, that wasn't the only reason his spirits were high. Last night, he received a call from Prussia, saying that he and Canada may have found means of retrieving his memories. It wasn't for definite, though, and that frightened Tino. Tino had a good feeling about what Prussia was telling him. Prussia told him to meet him and his friends somewhere- the location, of which, he hadn't yet decided, but said he would get back to him on it. Then, he remembered. The flight.

"Oh God, I don't wanna be late…Come on, Hanatamago, we gotta get going!

Prussia was on his way to the World Meeting, although it wasn't much of a World Meeting when only five of the countries were going to be present. He was running late, just as he normally did on every World Meeting.

_I'm so tired. I can't be awesome when I'm this damn tired…_

Prussia didn't want to risk any declines in his level of awesomeness. He stopped off at a booth and waited patiently to grab himself a cup of coffee. Even the sole rich scent of the coffee was beginning to make him feel more awake. He ponded about what Japan had told him, about how he had supposedly found a way to bring back some of Finland's memory. He had no idea what could of things Japan could have found, and he also had no idea if they'd work or not.

The waiter approached. "Bonjour, my good man. What would you like?"

Prussia could tell that sophisticated French accent from anywhere. _Francis Bonnefoy._

"Of course we've met before!" Prussia told him in an excited voice. "Y' know, when you get on your break, Francis, maybe you should sit with me and we can talk over a plate of pancakes and maple syrup?"


End file.
